Andy & Barry had a sociable day at the Angling Club car park, a
succession of walkers & cyclists greeting us, plus a local in her
car who suggested that our efforts wouldn’t last long before another
large vehicle knocked things down. A tractor driver also stopped for a
chat, also bemoaning the poor motoring skills of delivery drivers.
We re-aligned the roadside wall to reduce the risk of damage, using
substantial footings. Joined by Roderick after lunch, we laid a further
course in his good company.
Barry S.
No. Wallers: 3
Big fleeces and waterproofs were a thing of the past when Barry, Chris, Val,
Roderick, Duncan, Andy and Lycra-clad Rob (24 miles by bike as a warm-up for
walling seems a bit extreme) gathered for a bit more taking down and a lot
more rebuilding. The stint beyond the gate was given three hefty courses and
was then reconnected with the buttress section which, by common consent, was
deemed too solid and well-built to need stripping out. We didn’t quite
figure out why the wall had abruptly widened/narrowed at that point, but
assumed that an earlier rebuilder had reached the same conclusion having
repaired the cheek end after the gate to more normal dimensions.
Everyone
was saddened to hear that this would be Roderick’s last session with the group
for some, possibly considerable, time. Half of him is relocating to
Norfolk, the other to Scotland, neither of which is an easy commute to/from
Nidderdale. We wish him well on his travels.
Wild life
generally was conspicuous by its absence but the bluebells in the wood behind
the wall were looking splendid.
Chris G.
No. Waller:7
Chris, Val, Andy & Rob convened for a fine morning’s dismantling of
the next stint, an interesting tumbled structure, double-cased on the
wood side. Barry arrived after midday and foundations were laid, Chris
& Val then departing while we had a late lunch. A course of
substantial stones was laid to finish the day at 3.15.
Rob amazed us by cycling from Leeds !
Barry S.
No. Wallers: 4
A day of mixed weather for Barry, Andy, Duncan, Val and Chris - dry,
sunny morning sheltered from the wind; soggy midday hour; dry and sunny
again in the afternoon.
The team completed the stretch of wall between the stile and the gate - a
thin course followed by cover bands and double toppers.
Chris G.
No. Wallers 5
A beautiful calm Spring morning at Markenfield and dry underfoot for the walk across the field to stile. Rob, Rod, Duncan & Barry added some courses, serenaded by an insistent chiffchaff in the adjacent trees: a gang of jackdaws were less tuneful. The pleasant aroma of wild garlic teased our nostrils as we worked, and we completed the fill for a 2.45pm departure, having made satisfactory progress in the warm sunshine.
Barry S.
No. wallers: 4
A brief but busy ‘bits and pieces’ sort of day for Barry, Andy, Val and Chris. We finished at lunchtime (a pre-emptive strike before the rains arrived!) having brought the wall end by the gate up by a hefty course, having added some copes to the stint after the stile, having levelled up a course on the front of the wall and having revisited the barn to sort out a 100 or so copes to get us eventually as far as the gate.
Chris G.
No Wallers:4
Roderick and I arrived to find that Clive had kindly moved the topping stones that we’d sorted out to the stile and wall.
The four of us gathered at M as planned. After some discussion we added
a couple of thinish courses and laid on such coverbands as we could lay hands
on. Barry left us at lunchtime and we started on finding and adding
copes. We agreed amongst ourselves that it was best to stop after the
first 10 so that we could get a view from others. Somewhat weary anyway,
we packed in at 2:30 having made a bit of progress on the next stretch.
There are a couple of issues. First of all, doubling the copes doesn’t
match the rest of the wall (Barry made the very valid point that this is the
stretch most walkers will notice as they approach the stile) but given the
width of the wall we don’t have any alternative that I can think of.
Secondly, we don’t have much of anything left in the way of coverbands to
complete the rest of this stretch let alone enough river rock to complete the
copes. This might mean that, by the time we reach the gateway, we’ll be
walling in a different style. The width is an issue as it tends to point
towards heftier walling stone which is now in short supply (no problem at all
with fill!). I guess there’s little alternative but to bash on and complete
the copes on the stretch that already has coverbands, leaving the ‘what next?’
solution until we get the remainder of the wall to full height. Any
alternative suggestions would be welcome before next week.
Chris G.
No Wallers:4
